With dramatic canyons, verdant swaths of green, and glimpses of ocean waters, Southern California’s coastline offers buckets of beautiful vistas.
Dotting the craggy hillsides are impeccable midcentury homes that define a cultural history of the area. Many of the gardens surrounding these homes are the work of John Sharp, a landscape designer who belies his youthful age, 34, with a deep sense of design and the natural world. For Sharp, principal of Studio John Sharp in Los Angeles, landscapes begin with a connection: “Our studio’s ethos is not just landscape. It’s a reconnection with the outdoors, with nature,” he says.
With the natural world as the setting, he sees human connection bloom. “Gardens symbolize celebration, life, death, the folding of time, and memory,” Sharp says. “Gardens bring people into the present instantly. Not a lot of things can do that.”
Sharp treads the earth gently, with a discerning hand. The studio’s principles are based on sustainability, integration with the natural world, organic materials, and artistically driven moments. All are designed with drought tolerance and water conservation in mind.
His talent is serving him well: In the last year, Sharp’s studio has doubled in size. Although most of his projects are in California and Texas, he travels extensively through other parts of the country, connecting with clients, including celebrities such as Hilary Duff, Sophia Bush, and Zoey Deutch. Taos, New Mexico, is dear to his heart. “Los Angeles is the buzz, and Taos is the hum,” he says.
Sharp recently reflected on his work for Ocean Home readers and identified a trio of important historic properties that he and his staff have reimagined through a contemporary lens.
Hailey House, designed by architect Richard Neutra, Hollywood Hills
The client asked for a landscape that would blend seamlessly with Neutra’s modernist architectural vision, and reflect, as Sharp says, “a feeling of another world, an oasis.” The homeowner frequently entertains and needed outdoor space for both entertainment and relaxation.
The front section of the landscape is a tease to the entertainment-oriented back property, which offered Sharp “a ton of unutilized space.” As guests approach the front entry, they are greeted by small botanical statements, many featuring the client’s architectural-style pottery.
The shaded back garden terraces offer plentiful spaces for entertaining–outdoor dining and cooking, outdoor theater, and a firepit–as well as secluded spots. The vibe is meditative and relaxing. “We sought to establish integrated outdoor living,” Sharp says. Existing mature bamboo provides a decorative hedge that becomes the perfect backdrop for layers of monstera, philodendrons, succulents, giant birds of paradise, Australian tree ferns, and elephant ears. Meyer lemon trees send a pleasant waft of scent through the breeze.
Garcia House, designed by architect John Lautner (architectural renovation by Marmol Radziner), Hollywood Hills
After the owner of the Garcia House worked on a major home renovation for 10 years, the family asked Sharp to address the landscape. Here, Sharp and his staff sought a hint of sci fi, “home as spaceship,” he says. The Inhotim Institute in Brazil, a contemporary art museum, was another inspiration, and gave the home an immersive art-driven landscape. Sharp designed several site-specific installations on the property, including larger-than-life custom selenite totems.
The owner’s vision was to bring to fruition the swimming pool design that architect Lautner had designed for the home but which had never been built. Today the pool, shaped like an eye, is a focal point, reflecting the curve in the home’s design.
A subtle desert theme here supports water-conscious plantings. Jurassic specimens look very happy. Another beauty is a staghorn fern collection from the owner’s grandfather and also honors the owner’s mother’s involvement with the Epiphyllum Society of California. Shaded parts of the property are filled with aloe, red banana, philodendron, and monstera plants, along with tree ferns.
“I wanted to create something I hadn’t seen before,” says Sharp. “I wanted the landscape to be as unique as the house.”
Gerald and Betty Ford Estate, designed by architect Welton Becket, Rancho Mirage
Betty Ford, the wife of our country’s 38th president, loved gardening. As first lady from 1974 to 1977, she inspired Sharp with her compassionate style and love of plants. “The modernist architecture of the house is regal and sophisticated, presidential, if you will,” Sharp says. “I sought to contrast this seriousness with a whimsical and sculptural landscape design direction.”
Sharp brought in mostly native desert specimens, which serve as a counterpoint to the existing plantings that suggest the Mediterranean spirit: olive, palm, and citrus trees. Today, the original plants are placed lovingly around desert plants such as yucca rostrata, barrel cactus, Mexican fence post cactus, and palo verde trees. A rose garden was created from specimens shared between the Fords and former next door neighbor Ginger Rogers.
“The approach was more painterly than landscape,” Sharp says. Dreamy, relaxed garden spots render a quiet mood with threads of the unexpected. “The existing architecture is stoic and tucked away in an enclosed enclave. I wanted to lift the mood through the landscape and introduce a retreat of whimsical energy.”